Flying Free

Wolf and Raven Ponder 

On What Lies Ahead

by the artist Marion Syme

of Tofino, B.C.

I made the desperate leap for More
when my soul was sorely bored,
working a job that was a chore,
just to carry bags of groceries
through the door.

I leaped over mountains to the sea,
and knew ten years of ecstasy,
this wild bird so thrilled
at finally
flying free.

Then the universe set me down
in a grey and dismal little town
where I was "happy enough"
with my folks and all my Stuff,
but never forgot
that Something More
that I had lived
so joyously
before.

So, bent and broken,
and hobbling on one knee,
that careful life
I had once more
-and one last time-
to flee.
And now my heart swells with joy
at every cloud-besotted hill,
my eyes gratefully drink their fill,
and this wild bird,
 - limp-feathered, battered wing, -
is flying still.


for Marian's prompt at Real Toads: Aspire, to create a poem inspired by    song, that asks the question "Don't you want something more?" I have lived that song - both sides of it - twice now.

RIDING MY BUS OF DREAMS

If the wet grey skies are getting you down,

and the rain is trickling under your coat, down 

the back of your neck,

if there is too much Christmas to buy

and not enough dollars,

if some of your loved ones are far away,

and too many Christmases have passed,

with too many faces no longer around the table,

if love never arrived, at least not in the form 

you had expected it,

take a little time to Occupy the Blues.

Go ahead.

Feel it all and, if you're strong enough,

widen your vision to encompass

all of the unwanted,  abandoned animals

who will spend Christmas in the SPCA,

or the creatures who live their whole lives 

in cages, waiting to cross our tables,

or the wild ones displaced from their habitats,

then picked off when they "encroach"

on "Man's" Territory.

Are you depressed enough yet?

Just watch the news.

I know. I don't do it often,

and each time I do I remember why.

The humans may be even worse off

than the animals in so many places.

And for certain, the environment

is in complete distress.

But I'm riding my Bus of Dreams

down the grey, rain-drenched streets

through the worst part of town -

where the disenfranchised

eke out their bare existence.

They remind me I have so much

to be grateful for.

I see them carrying their small packages home

with gladness in their hearts

to make a small Christmas with their loved ones.

We all dream the same dreams.

We all love to give.

When my heart aches for humanity,

for this suffering and unbalanced planet,

for the 99%, for the melting at the Poles,

I remember that even in its distress,

Mother Earth continues to love us,

to provide for us, to sustain us.

She wakes up every morning,

beautiful.

She presents us with 

her best sunrises and sunsets,

her bluest skies, her fluffiest clouds,

her necessary rain.

When I see her resilience,

I roll up my sleeves

and get ready to

begin again.

I decide to Re-Occupy Hope.

I wrote this some years ago, in Port Alberni. Dragged it out to share, since 'tis the season of giving  and I am thinking of the homeless, the impoverished, those who want to give, but have no money with which to do so. My eyes lift often to the mountaintops powdered with the first snow. The planet and its animals are so beautiful. May we humans get it together soon, to nurture and restore in response to all we have been given.

Christmas in the Gardens

Darwin's Cafe in Tofino's Botanical Gardens 

is all lit up for Christmas.

With a December pass, the cost of one event, 

one can attend an evening's entertainment 

every night in December, 

and also wander the gardens to enjoy the lights.

Tonight the Tofino-Ucluelet Choir gave us two hours 

of rousing songs - some Christmas songs,

with interesting arrangements, but many others as well, 

and some solo performances by talented

members of the group. 

One of the best Christmas concerts I have ever been to.

This is Darwin's Cafe, where the magic happens.

This wooden heron, in the pond,

caught my eye.

A  bike in a tree.

Another view of the pond.

This lit up tunnel was fun to walk through.

This is a viewpoint looking over the inlet.

A good spot for watching the 

spring and fall bird migrations.

A wonderful event.

I am so glad I went,

tempting as it was to stay home

in my jammies.

I must get to more of these events.

I am always blissed out

when I do.

There is so much talent in this community.

Tomorrow, I am bussing down-Island

to my daughter's in Victoria

for a few days.

Happy holidays, friends!

Cali's Smile

Cali, on the left, Chloe on the right

Last Christmas, she was in her new home, with memories of the steel bars of the kill shelter still in her head. She was tentative, uncertain, lucky that the woman from Rosier Days Dog Rescue chose her among all the others to save from that terrifying place where her time had run out. Up the coast she came, from California, to Victoria, B.C., where a series of good people cared for her until my daughter found her. They call her "Cali" for California. Look at her smile now! She is grateful. She is happy. She knows she is home. She knows she is loved.

One small scared brown dog

rescued from the brink of death

Christmas memories

Run fast, Cali, and leave those 

bad memories far behind

My daughter Stephanie has rescued many wonderful dogs the past twenty years. Her dream is to have her own dog rescue one day. Cali's smile says she knows she has hit the jackpot, LOL.

for Karin's prompt at Real Toads: to take a letter of the alphabet (I chose C) and free write with pen and paper, then revise.

Fire and Ice

The worst fire of all,

still troubling my heart, 

unbearable,

your big, vibrant, noisy body

going into the flames,

your spirit's confusion.

Guilt: my decision,

because I needed you with me

and there was no other way.

Ice cold and horrible,

the moment she handed you back to me,

reduced to ashes

in a small take-out box.

I carry you now

forever in my heart,

your thumping tail

causing smiles and tears,

joy and pain.

You always were a spirit

too big to kill.

for Kerry's  prompt at Real Toads:  Fire and Ice. Also to be shared with the Poetry Pantry at
Poets United,   where there is good reading every Sunday morning. When Pup died, almost eight years ago, Annell Livingston wrote a poem about him, titled "A Spirit Too Big To Kill". She got it right.

Remembering Fruit

source

We picked apples off

the trees of my childhood,

driving into the country

on Sunday afternoons

to see the springtime blossoms.

We chased each other

through the rows,

two small sisters

in Sunday dresses,

reaching up, with delight,

allowed to choose

one firm, fresh apple

from the tree.

Life was simpler then,

and kind.

Now condominiums sprout

where once the orchards bloomed.

One by one, 

the loved old houses 

disappear.

In the small house

where I raised

my four children,

the back yard was all garden.

In summer, the table groaned

with watermelon, cantelope and honeydew,

grapes, and plums and apricots,

strawberries, luscious red,

juice dripping down our chins.

The house and garden is gone now,

replaced by a monster house,

my children's ghostly laughter

still echoing down the years.

We picked apples off

the trees of my childhood.

Now condominiums sprout

where once the orchards

bloomed.

for Sanaa's prompt at Real Toads:  Of Poems and Fruit

CELEBRATION

My granddog, Chloe,

who cant believe the cupcake

coming at her

The sun comes up every morning,

and the trees unfurl their arms 

and sway in celebration.

The miracle of those big green waves,

rolling in, rolling out,

is the definition of everness.

And we?

Our eyes open, amazed,

at the miracle of

another day of loving.

We look to the sky,

where the great birds are wheeling.

Our hearts swell

in gratitude, in hopefulness,

in reverence,

in one long moment

of “Thank You!”

Each morning,

a celebration.

Each evening,

thankfulness,

and rest.

Chloe's sister, Cali, a rescue from

a kill shelter in California, who celebrates

her new life, with gratitude, every day.

As do I.

For Sumana's prompt: Celebration at Midweek Motif.